Francoeur and Lucille took a bow as they finished their performance. They waved to the crowd as the curtain closed on another successful night. "You were wonderful tonight Francoeur!" Lucille told him with a smile. He chirped back with his own smile, conveying the same message. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go get ready." She scurried off to her dressing room to prepare for the rest of the night's events. Her, Raoul, Emile, and Maude were all going to a dinner party tonight that they had been invited to the week prior. Francoeur was invited too, and he wanted to go, but he decided to stay behind. He was fine on stage, but being part of the large crowd made him extremely nervous. That and the fact that Lucille had just recently taught him how to speak the human language made conversing with anyone frustrating, so he preferred to stay silent. Lucille had finished getting dressed as Raoul, Emile and Maud walked into the dressing room, having come to the cabaret prepared to leave for the party after his and Lucille's final party was semi-formal. Maud wore a long-sleeved, lavender dress with white and sapphire accents, Emile and Raoul wore suits of green and brown, and Lucille wore a medium-sleeved, flowing, pink dress with rose-pattern embroidery on the bodice and white, lace accents. He thought she looked beautiful. He sat at the piano bench and listened while the four of them chatted about what they might expect to happen at the party, when Lucille turned to him. "Are you sure you don't want to come?" She asked. He gave her an apologetic look and nodded. "Well then, we'd better leave now so we don't show up late." Raoul looked at her and she nodded. "Okay."
Francoeur being his polite self decided to walk out front and see them off. As he waved goodbye, he remembered the real reason he didn't want to go. Lucille and Raoul walked arm-in-arm, as did Maud and Emile. If he had decided to go, he would have no one's hand to hold, no one to send happy glances to, no one to share new things with. He would be, in a sense, alone. When the thought of love first crossed his mind, he thought he could love Lucille. She was the one who took him in, gave him a life, showed him he didn't have to be a monster, but thoughts disappeared when Raoul admitted his love for her. Afterwards he thought it would be selfish to confess his love as well. He didn't want to ruin their happiness. Although, when he thought of love, there was one other person that came to mind. Someone he thought of whenever he picked up his guitar. He thought it was a dream, but just maybe, if there was one person out there who could accept him. No. He quickly pushed that aside, reminding himself of something yet again. Monsters don't get happy endings. These sad thoughts now placed in his mind, he walked back to the rear entrance of the cabaret, for the front would be locked up by now.
Adelaide watched Lucille and Francoeur take a bow as she poured a glass of champagne for one of the spectators at L'Oeseau Rare. After living at her mother's house for a few weeks she got a job as a waitress at the cabaret and a rooftop apartment not too far away, though it was still a good walk to and from. The curtains closed and people started to take the last sips of their drinks and leave. Now it was time for her final task of today, closing up. Normally the act of closing the establishment was done by the owner or one of the performers, but all of them were invited to a dinner party that evening immediately afterwards. This is what she had been waiting for all week.
Once all of the people had left, she began to stack chairs on the tables. Just then Lucille, Francoeur, and their friends began to emerge from the back stage door, all dressed in semi-formal wear for the party. No one really noticed her, being as quiet as she was. Madame Carlotta was the one who hired her so she never actually met the performers face-to-face, but oh did she love their show. She would hum to herself during their songs as she served the show-goers, but never louder than only she could hear. She watched them leave as she stacked the last few chairs and walked over to lock the front doors. She hurried to get the rest of her duties done as fast s she could so she could complete her evening too. About fifteen minutes later, she was finished with her work and sat down to take a break. After catching her breath she skipped down to the wine cellar to put her plan in motion.
Down in the wine cellar was a backpack and a large case. The large case was a guitar case, and she smiled wide as she opened it. In order to be as good as the musical duo she loved, she needed to practice, and what better way to practice than in an actual stage setting? The cabaret would be safe in her care. Holding the instrument in her hands, she became that much more excited. In the backpack was the second part of her act, the best dress she owned. It was a long, snowy blue dress. It's sleeves were large, white puffs that rested past the shoulders, with sapphire ribbons tied at the bottom. Long, white ruffles flowed over the chest and about half-way down the dress. The tall collar was sapphire too, as well as the two thin ribbons that joined the two sets of ruffles at the sides of the dress. She held it to her heart, remembering when she first got it. Her father gave it to her when she was a child, right before he left for the army. He said he wanted her to grow into a strong and beautiful girl so she could wear it in the future.
She put on the dress and twirled around the room, elated to feel the fine fabric on her skin. She then took a small mask from the backpack that she had fashioned to match the dress. She enjoyed the air of mystery a mask gave someone and thought it a good addition to her performance. After putting on the mask, she grabbed her guitar and walked back up to the cabaret. She put her backpack on the floor back stage and took a deep breath. She stepped out from behind the curtain and into center stage. She imagined everything. The announcer shouted her name and the cheers rang through the building. The crowd was the largest it had ever been, and all went silent as she curtsied to them. She strummed a chord and rolled into a beautiful rendition of her favorite song, The Prayer.
